I’ve noticed an overwhelming number of posts here glorifying the “good old days” and how Lemmy embodies that sense of community we all long for. But let’s be real: we don’t actually know each other, and that’s okay....
I'm struggling to find content. I saw some news about a sports team I follow, Xbox game, or show I'm watching- I would typically go to reddit, easily find a sub, and all of the content and comments I want. Now when I look on kbin or lemmy or beehaw ( I don't even know the difference), I could be in an instance? where there is isn't Xbox content but maybe another instance has tons of content. It's a bit confusing.
What I think could make Lemmy superior to Reddit is the ability to create themed-instances that are all linked together which feels like the entire point. I've noticed that a lot of instances are trying to be a catch-all Reddit replacement by imitating specific subs which is understandable given the circumstances but seems like...
I have been joking to a couple of friends today who were also redditors that I've been feeling withdrawals from reddit throughout the day. Like I knew I was addicted, I just never thought I was going to have to face the consequences of withdrawals!...
I think people are jumping the gun a bit on what Kbin is and are expecting it to be as huge as Reddit which it might never be. Most of my news I’m getting via the free version of Feedly which is an RSS reader and I’m only really using Kbin to scratch that itch for a bit of commenting.
I hope people are exploring their options with being able to interact with Lemmy and Beehaw boards via Federation too. If this setup ever gets as big as Reddit it’ll be through the federated whole not one individual site. Considering how much data costs to host I think pushing one site towards a monopoly will always force increased advertIsing and with popularity comes financial predators. This is of course what Reddit is going through now.
In the boiling chaos of reddit over the last few days, I scrolled past some allegations that I didn’t have a chance to thoroughly look into before today’s start to the blackout....
Yea, so, the “Chinese whispers” of negative rumours are super toxic. The rumour you’ve heard is probably the most untrue I’ve heard in a long time.
The devs are communists and a pretty staunchly anti-Nazis and racism. The reason you have to apply to join lemmy is that a while back a bunch of nazis came in here, and so to prevent that from happening ever again, the devs made the sign up process harder.
They’ve also hardcoded some anti-racism filtering into the codebase, which has attracted a good deal of criticism from “free-software” types while the devs just don’t want their software to be used by any racists.
If there’s controversy, it’s over the magnitude of their communism and the extent to which they happily defend china etc. From what I’ve seen, their position is mostly that western media/propaganda hypocritically exaggerates issues. Even if their defences go too far, I think this is a valuable perspective (because beyond “fake news” rubbish, the media is absolutely biased). Additionally, capitalism, even if you think it’s the best system, could do with a critical beating at the moment.
Beyond all that, this is FOSS and the devs have been nothing but supportive of people making new instances, communities and forks for a diverse ecosystem.
Back to the rumour shit. I’ve seen a bit of it on the fediverse and basically concluded that it’s a social media habit from big social platforms that really needs to die. On bigger platforms, it’s more harmless as the umbrella organisation running the platform is untouchable and the most likely victims are big powerful people that have actually done something wrong.
On the fediverse, basically no one is powerful. Instead, you’ve got volunteers and people trying to do their best, however much they might need to learn something. And it’s not one big shadow company keeping the place together, it’s just people. So any rumour is likely to be friendly fire against the fediverse as a whole. So unless you know something and are willing to look into it, it’s probably not worth thinking about. If someone says something is the case, ask for receipts or evidence. Often there won’t be a reply. Asking as you have here isn’t bad, but the weirdly wrong rumour you’ve acquired probably deserved more scepticism based on its source.
The big exception to this is racism. If someone who is the subject of such things says it’s happening it should be presumed true.
So after we’ve extended the virtual cloud server twice, we’re at the max for the current configuration. And with this crazy growth (almost 12k users!!) even now the server is more and more reaching capacity....
Ukraine says it has liberated four villages in the south-east, calling these the first settlements won back from Russia since Kyiv’s counter-offensive began...
Please check my post, I think everything I said is very valid, but I want this community to see it too, and help steer the discussion, I think reddit is doing this intentionally.
I think there’s a team of people intentionally spreading lemmy misinformation. I think reddit is trying to get people not to switch from this platform
People are saying the same things everywhere, but on any analysis, they don’t actually make sense, let me give an example:
Lemmy is absolutely too convoluted for normal people. “There are multiple servers, many of which overlap with each other content-wise? Which one am I supposed to use? This isn’t as simple as reddit,” says the photographer who posted to /r/earthporn, says the politics junkie who posted in /r/worldnews, says the creative writer who posted to /r/nosleep.
There is no way to prevent this from happening again. It will happen again, no matter what. If Lemmy gets big, it will only do so if a couple servers rise above all others so the normies can understand that those are the servers to join… and those servers eventually will take advantage of their users just as reddit has done."
There’s no aspect of truth to this comment, as an example, let’s try actually doing what they’re saying is too hard:
So, did they just make up that it was too convoluted for normal people? Yes. Is there some truth to the notion that there are multiple communities for the same thing… Also yes, but there are on reddit too, it’s no different than r/art and r/art1 r/art2 and the billion other subreddits in a similar position. People just search and then use the largest one… so is it an actual problem, or is it just grasping at straws? You be the judge of that.
Are there things that make lemmy difficult? Yes, but they’re rapidly being solved and extremely minimal, other than that issue tracker, the other thing that might stop you is that some lemmy instances require a message and approve signup, this is because they widely aren’t monetized and are run by volunteers with no intention of ever monetizing. Neither of these things are real blockers to normal human adoption, and neither of them are long-term fundamental issues.
If you think federation is too complex for normal users, I ask you, why does email face no such difficulty? Why is nobody complaining about how difficult email is because of federation?
The other issue is genuinely a problem, the lemmy developers are tankies… however, lemmy is released under an open source license, none of their ideology is being injected into the code, and this is akin to worrying about the ideology of the developers of email. Use an instance not created by them, and you’re safe from this entirely, I recommend beehaw.org
Don’t let the misinformation factory stress you, I don’t have proof that reddit is doing this on purpose, but this seems to be a common set of lies… and if you don’t like lemmy anyway, there’s also kbin, which federates with lemmy but is made by completely separate developers.
Federation is NECESSARY for a non-corpo/government propaganda AND control ridden future. If reddit were federated, nobody would give a fuck about this api thing, because we’d just go to another instance, and all of our content would still be available on that other instance. That’s why reddit fears federation, none of the issues with lemmy are fundamental, let’s build a better future, one where we don’t have to hope a benevolent centralized monopoly/dictatorship on a community will work for us!
I agree with a number of these complaints. I’m migrating over from reddit and I’m having a number of issues similar to what was posted.
Here’s my experience.
OK the blackout started, I moved Apollo and Narwall to page 2 of my phone so I don’t muscle memory click on them. I google lemmy because that’s what people were talking about switching too before the blackout. I get linked to a page that says lemmy is a bunch of instances and it doesn’t matter which one you join. ok… but which one do I join? I goto the instance page and sort by which server has the most users and is in my country. Beehaw it is I guess. Let’s sign up. Oh there’s a form you have to answer questions about why you fit here and a human is going to approve me (still waiting on that one). Lets see which one has open registration, Lemmy.World. I try registering and it just spins (still does, tried it again today in firefox, safari, and edge). OK well lets keep trying until we get one to work (lemmynsfw.com was the winner at the time and since then I got an account at sh.itjust.works).
OK I’m in and I’m on a NSFW instance but I’m looking for technology, news, and politics. OK communities ALL, which technology do I join (Beehaw, lemmy.ml, midwest.social)?
It took me almost a day to get setup and the top search results on the issues I was facing all linked to reddit pages I wasn’t going to click on.
I’m setup now and looking forward to things getting sorted out (there will be clear winners we all migrate to). I really don’t understand the benefit of being federated. I honestly would prefer a single site that’s a nonprofit similar to wikipedia but I’ll be using this for now.
I originally intended to uninstall RIF and only use (old) Reddit (with RES) on my browser at the end of June, but these additional changes make it look like they're desperate for money, and old.reddit won't stay alive for much longer, anyway.
So I bit the bullet, got settled on Lemmy and Mastodon and really like it.
The very idea behind the fediverse is the "old school internet" I experienced back in the late 90's, when people were still idealistic and thought the net would bring us freedom. What happened instead was the commercialisation of everything, algorithms to optimise engagement and attention, data collection and sales, the global spread of outrage peddling and fake news, and ultimately, the total sellout of twitter and Reddit. Late stage capitalism.
It’s great news when the social media oligopoly shoots themselves in the foot.
So far I’ve tried:
Facebook = Diaspora
Irc = Matrix (Element)
Reddit = Lemmy
Twitter = Mastodon
Out of all the different federated solutions I’ve tried, I believe this one has the best chance to hit big. Diaspora didn’t work because the network effect is too strong with Facebook. Same with Matrix and Mastodon. But reddit is pseudoanonymous platform, you are not here because of some specific people. It’s actually somewhat a benefit when there are less people and you have more room for people to see the content you put out. And the quality of the discussion can be better when there are fewer people.
It’s still likely that everyone will just go back to reddit but we have a good chance here. The Lemmy UI is actually better and more snappy for someone who has used old reddit all this time.
I found it complicated at first (didn’t know which instance “will last”, where to register to not lose anything when instance admin decide to turn it down), but now it’s going good. We are missing mobile apps though....
A lot of the communities only seem to have like 50 subscribers. I know a lot of people are exploring options other than Reddit, so I’m confused where everyone is at.
Or maybe I just have weird taste. I am not so interested in shitposting, memes, politics, news; this may be where where everyone is? I’ll give it time to see who trickles in. I like the forum/discussion board style of this as opposed to Mastodon, which is obviously more timeline/feed based, but can feel like a random assortment of things.
On the other hand, since many of the communities are empty, I either do not have interesting topics to yet follow, or am not quite sure where I feel comfortable posting. Somewhat opposite ends of the spectrum, but okay that there is differentiation. Would like to see the fediverse group together (Mastodon, Lemmy, Kbin, whatever else believes in this approach), as alone there may not be power, but together, maybe something impressive can be made.
Reddit's strategy of antagonizing app writters, moderators, and millions of redditors is good news for reddit alternatives like KBin and Lemmy. And not just them! The fediverse has always grown in waves and we're at the start of one.
Previous waves have led to innovation but also major challenges and limited growth. It's worth looking at what tactics worked well in the past, to use them again or adapt them and build on them. It's also valuable to look at what went wrong or didn't work out as well in the past, to see if there are ways to do better.
Here's the current table of contents:
I'm flashing!!!!!
But first, some background
Don't tell people "it's easy"
Improve the "getting-started experience"
Keep scalability and sustainability in mind
Prioritize accessibility
Get ready for trolls, hate speech, harassment, spam, porn, and disinformation
Invest in moderation tools
Values matter
This is a great opportunity – and it won't be the last great opportunity
I wanted to get a pulse check on how new members are finding the general experience/website. Is it more confusing than Reddit or are you finding the instance system a better way of doing things as it can give you more freedom of where you choose to create an account?...
It’s welcoming but confusing. I think there’s two reasons for the latter:
1- Many of us forget how basic Reddit was when we first started using it, and the features we all know and love got added over time and repeatedly refined based on use.
2- Most of us here are because we have been users of incredibly well designed apps crafted by developers with a passion for great UI. If I try using the (new) Reddit site or their default app, I find myself equally confused.
There are still so many changes happening in Lemmy functionality, and as we’ve seen with Mastodon, we will hopefully soon be overwhelmed with great apps.
In the meantime there’s the great community already here and growing. I saw a comment that you can estimate that Reddit has 90% lurkers, 9% commenters, 0.9% posters, and 0.1% “community builders” I think it’s those latter groups who are leading the exodus, which is great news for us and terrible news for whoever ends up owning Reddit.
My experience with the Fediverse has only been through Mastodon, through which I struggled to find a community I really gelled with. Either it was supper overwhelming with meme posts or NSFW, or it was too chill to the point of nothing. Or, it was hyperfocused like FOSS/Linux and became uninteresting after awhile. May try again,...
If your issue with Mastodon was mainly the interface, maybe you could try using a third party app like Tusky. Mastodon’s own app isn’t great, but when using Tusky it’s quite nice.
I was never a fan of Twitter, but I use Mastodon quite a bit. Both for following news and projects as for just posting random crap. I never used Reddit much either, only read when it would come up on an online search. But Lemmy so far has been nice, if not a bit silent. I’ve got good hope for it.
Mastodon has benefitted from news articles and the sheer novelty of an alternative to Twitter, even before Elon Musk bought it out.
Lemmy probably won’t have the same fanfare, especially given the stigma Reddit has, like it was a secret to have an account, or talking about it betrayed you as some weirdo or pervert. Whatever, Reddit never seemed to have the same social acceptance as Twitter or anything Facebook owns.
I think it is good to have a community that is self-filtering. Let’s keep the IQ high on this one (with the exception of me, of course!).
I want Lemmy to explode with users and have a HUGE community. Exploring communities with 100 users is a waste of time.
I’ve noticed an overwhelming number of posts here glorifying the “good old days” and how Lemmy embodies that sense of community we all long for. But let’s be real: we don’t actually know each other, and that’s okay....
Potentially unpopular opinion: It may be time to close registrations (temporarily). (kbin.social)
Hey kbinMeta....
Beehaw defederating from lemmy.world and sh.itjust.works (beehaw.org)
Interesting bit of news for the threadiverse. All three of these are fairly large lemmy instances
Your Lemmy Crash Course to Free Open-Source AI
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/76020...
It’s not just about the API Changes (kbin.social)
At least for me, the API changes are just a final straw and something which mobilised enough redditors to make other platforms viable alternatives....
I definitely think r/gaming has the biggest banger of a privated notice (media.kbin.social)
Are we using Lemmy correctly?
What I think could make Lemmy superior to Reddit is the ability to create themed-instances that are all linked together which feels like the entire point. I've noticed that a lot of instances are trying to be a catch-all Reddit replacement by imitating specific subs which is understandable given the circumstances but seems like...
Any other former redditors feeling grief? (kbin.social)
I have been joking to a couple of friends today who were also redditors that I've been feeling withdrawals from reddit throughout the day. Like I knew I was addicted, I just never thought I was going to have to face the consequences of withdrawals!...
Can someone clarify or debunk some Lemmy/fediverse allegations for me?
In the boiling chaos of reddit over the last few days, I scrolled past some allegations that I didn’t have a chance to thoroughly look into before today’s start to the blackout....
[Done] Server will be migrated (More power!)
So after we’ve extended the virtual cloud server twice, we’re at the max for the current configuration. And with this crazy growth (almost 12k users!!) even now the server is more and more reaching capacity....
Ukraine war: Kyiv claims first victories of counter-offensive - BBC News (www.bbc.com)
Ukraine says it has liberated four villages in the south-east, calling these the first settlements won back from Russia since Kyiv’s counter-offensive began...
Fighting against anti-lemmy misinformation on reddit (old.reddit.com)
Please check my post, I think everything I said is very valid, but I want this community to see it too, and help steer the discussion, I think reddit is doing this intentionally.
Reddit experimenting with blocking mobile browsers (old.reddit.com)
As quoted from the linked post....
So, what do you think about Lemmy/kbin so far?
I found it complicated at first (didn’t know which instance “will last”, where to register to not lose anything when instance admin decide to turn it down), but now it’s going good. We are missing mobile apps though....
[Meta] Since Lemmy allows linking URLs and text together, we should make it a common etiquette to write the tldr or main point of the article in the post
cross-posted from: lemmy.fmhy.ml/post/11661...
[Meta] Since Lemmy allows linking URLs and text together, we should make it a common etiquette to write the tldr or main point of the article in the post
With a fresh new start we have the power to enforce some unspoken etiquettes on the site in the hopes of a better platform than Reddit....
for the Reddit refugees, do you also feel a bit heartbroken?
For me it feels like breaking up with someone after many years. At the same time, I feel a bit dirty mentioning the name in the post title.
Lemmy.world starting guide
(I’m creating a starting guide post here. Have patience, it will take some time…)...
For everyone new to Lemmy, how are you finding the experience?
I wanted to get a pulse check on how new members are finding the general experience/website. Is it more confusing than Reddit or are you finding the instance system a better way of doing things as it can give you more freedom of where you choose to create an account?...
I like this significantly better than Mastodon
My experience with the Fediverse has only been through Mastodon, through which I struggled to find a community I really gelled with. Either it was supper overwhelming with meme posts or NSFW, or it was too chill to the point of nothing. Or, it was hyperfocused like FOSS/Linux and became uninteresting after awhile. May try again,...
Brace Yourselves (lemmy.ml)